Teri Shields Dead at 79, Mother of Brooke Shields

A spokesman for Brooke Shields has released a statement indicating that her mother Teri Shields has died in Manhattan at age 79 after suffering for many years from dementia.

As a single parent, Teri managed her daughter's career that began with an Ivory Soap ad when Brooke was 11 months old. The stage mother later came under fire for allowing her 13-year-old to appear in a nude scene while portraying a child prostitute in the 1978 film 'Pretty Baby.' Two years later she appeared in nude scenes while filming 'Blue Lagoon.'

A series of provocative Calvin Klein ads also caused an uproar over the tagline, "Nothing comes between me and my Calvins."

The mother-daughter duo had a stormy relationship and became estranged for many years. In later life Brooke revealed, "I grew up in an alcoholic household."

In 2009, a tabloid reporter coerced Teri Shields to leave her nursing home and ride around with him in a car. Brooke Shields was furious with the nursing home for allowing the stranger to walk away with her ailing parent, in a failed attempt to get her to provide salacious details for a story.

Shields has been married to television writer Chris Henchy since 2001. They reside in New York with their daughters, Rowan, 9, and Grier, 6.